Package for merchandise



(No Model.)

H. A. LEE. PACKAGE FOR MERCHANDISE.

Patented June 18, 1889.

Gag

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. LEE, OF GLEN RIDGE, NEW JERSEY.

PACKAGE FOR MERCHANDISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,364, dated June 18, 1889.

Application filed February 1, 1889. Serial No. 298,371. (No model.)

To coZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY A. LEE, of Glen Ridge, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Packages for Merchandise, and the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to what is known as a utility package-that is, a package designed to hold articles of merchandise, such as coffee, tea, sugar, spices, fruits, &c., and in which such goods are sold, said package after the goods are used being adapted for other economic or ornamental purposes. Various forms of utility packages have heretofore been employed.

My invention consists in a package formed preferably of sheet metal, and having a tapering cylindrical body open at the larger end and closed at the smaller end, and I employ a cover or lid stamped up to the desired shape of the same material as the body, which cover is adapted to fit in or upon the open end of the body and close the same after the article of merchandise has been placed therein.

My improved package when the goods have been removed is adapted for use as a flowerpot, the lid or cover serving as a saucer to the body portion or pot.

Myimproved package can be made of sheet metal, papier-mach, wood pulp, or any other similar material.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a filled package having a convex cover, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same parts arranged as a flower-pot. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a filled package having a concave cover with an overturned edge, and i is a section and partial elevation of the same parts arranged as a flower-pot; and Fig. 5 is an elevation of the concave lid or cover of Figs. 3 and 4..

a represents the tapering cylindrical body of the package, wliich is preferably made of sheet metal, having a vertical seam. This body is open at the upper and larger end and closed with a bottom a at the smaller end, in which bottom a, I make one or more small holes 2'.

b represent's'the lid or cover of the package, and the surface of the body a and lid 1) may be ornamented in design or color in any way desired, and the edge I) of said cover maybe provided with scallops or with two or more projections or tongues.

The lid or cover I) may be convex, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, to rest upon and over the upper edge 0 of the body a, and said cover is secured to said body by bending over around the edge 0 two or more of the projections or scallops. The lid or cover I) may be concave, as shown in Figs. 3, 4:, and 5, and adapted to fit into the upper end of the body a, and to be held in place by the friction of tight fitting, or bybending over two or more of the projections or scallops around the upper wired edge 0 of the body a, or by both.

The cover or lid 1), Fig. 1, is adapted when inverted to form a saucer Z), Fig. 2, to the body CL, which, when the goods are removed, can be used as a flower-pot. The cover or lid 1), Fig. 3, is adapted to form a saucer b, Figs. at and 5, without being inverted. I prefer to employ a disk 61,01": sheet metal or pasteboard, placed in the bot-tom of the body a over the holes in the bottom a before the package is filled to prevent any of the contents of the package escaping.

My improved package is a very desirable and convenient article, and is also quite ornamental and pleasing to the eye, and forms a desirable receptacle in which to put up for sale such articles as coffee, tea, spices, &c., and when the contents are exhausted the body and cover are not useless, but can be utilized as a flower-pot.

I claim as my invention 1. As a new article of manufacture, a utility package for merchandise, composed of a tapering cylindrical sheet-metal body a, open at the larger end and a perforated bottom at the smaller end, and a cover I), having an edge to engage the upper edge of the body, said body and cover having an ornamental surface and being adapted to form a flowerpot and saucer, substantially as set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a utility package for merchandise,-composed of a tapering cylindrical body a, open at the larger end and closed by a perforated bottom at the smaller end, and a lid or cover I), having a scalloped edge, said body and cover being adapted to form aflower-pot and saucer, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 28th day of January, A.

HENRY A. LEE. WVitnesses:

GEO. T. PINOKNEY, HAROLD SERRELL. 

